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Exclusive: Air's Chris Tucker explains why character was a "blessed" role

Air star Chris Tucker has revealed why the role he plays in the movie was a "blessed" one.

Directed by Ben Affleck, Air tells the story of shoe salesman Sonny Vaccaro, played by Matt Damon, who signed a business deal with rookie basketball player Michael Jordan which would ultimately revolutionise the Nike brand.

Starring alongside Damon and Affleck, Chris Tucker plays the part of Howard White, the now Senior Vice President of Brand Jordan at Nike, who was involved in the original deal.

Related: How Air's Ben Affleck and Matt Damon plan to change Hollywood

Speaking exclusively to Digital Spy, Tucker said that getting the part was a "blessing" as he was friends with Howard White before being offered the role.

"This is the blessing about it. I already knew Howard White and my agent called me and said Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's doing this movie," Tucker explained.

"It's a small part but it's about this guy Howard White. I said: 'Howard White? I know Howard White, he's a friend of mine'. The small part threw me off," he added.

According to Affleck, Tucker was given free rein with the part and allowed to write his own scenes, which Tucker said made the process "really comfortable".

ben affleck, matt damon
JC Olivera/GA - Getty Images

Related: Ben Affleck's Nike movie Air lands 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating

Describing Howard White as "so helpful", Tucker said that White put him in touch with his old teachers, basketball coaches and even "Charles Barkley, one of the biggest NBA stars too" as part of his research for the role.

"They all said the same thing about Howard, a great guy and he's a guy who will look at the glass half-full instead of half-empty, he's a positive guy," Tucker said.

"He's like Confucius, he's got all this wisdom and knowledge, an amazing person. He was always nice to me over the years," said the actor. "It was a blessed role because I had a lot of knowledge and research from him."

Air is released in cinemas on April 5.

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